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Google Fiber Sings 'Kansas City, Here I Come'

Fats Domino used to sing about Kansas City, “I'm going to Kansas City. Kansas City, here I come.” He could have been offering the tune in honor of Google (News - Alert) Fiber.

On Tuesday, the business announced it is connecting its very fast Internet service to households in Kansas City – albeit just a few and a bit later than first promised.

In recent days, Google Fiber has pulled fiber from the street to the side of residences in the Hanover Heights section. That will be followed by in-home installation. Google Fiber will let residents know they can now schedule an appointment.

Alana Karen, director of Service Delivery at Google Fiber, promises their crews will show up at the start of the appointment time. They also clean up if needed, by bringing along their own vacuum cleaner, according to a Google Fiber blog post.

The company is encouraging residents to view a YouTube video on the installation process – to make it user-friendly.

The Kansas City Star said Kansas City, Kan., was selected out of over 1,100 locations to be a test locale for the service in spring 2011. Kansas City, Mo., was added as well.

By the end of 2013, service will be installed in most of Kansas City, Kan., the Star reported. Much of Kansas City south of the Missouri River and north of Interstate 435 will also be wired by the end of next year. It will then expand service to Westwood, Westwood Hills and Mission Woods, which may take “years,” the Star said.

Once it is in place, the Star predicts, “Google Fiber poses serious competition to the companies that have been selling Kansas Citians TV and Internet packages.” It does not include landline telephone service.

As far as the price, if a subscriber pays $300 for the installation fee, the Star said, Google will charge nothing for Internet service for seven years. That service offers a slightly slower connection, but for $70 a month “customers get a far more robust Internet connection of up to a gigabit-per-second.”

Among the channels being offered in its TV service for Kansas City are those affiliated with Fox, TMCnet said. HBO and AMC are not being offered so far.

There is definite interest in Kansas City in the service, with TechCrunch reporting “180 out of 202 areas that were eligible for the service hit their pre-registration goals.”

Also, the technicians who are installing the service are from the local region, according to a report from Forbes.

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